


Pulling Strings

by SoU2019



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Romance, SoUarchive, but Ed has to work through his issues, ed is 19, nothing really bad happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:55:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoU2019/pseuds/SoU2019
Summary: Something is wrong with Ed.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 15
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

The light had been growing ever dimmer as Roy sat in his favourite armchair. He prided himself in having contingency plans on top of contingency plans, however; it would be a lie to say that this was one of the million things he had foreseen. The worn leather of the seat was warm against his uniform and the cold glass of water had not moved from its position on the side table. This was something he had never imagined possible. His fists clenched, and he felt the rough texture of the ignition cloth press into his skin. Technically he no longer needed them, but clap alchemy was still something he struggled with, and he really didn’t feel like facing this threat without his favourite weapon. 

Roy sighed and forcibly unclenched his fists, there would be no point in pulling a muscle before he even spotted the enemy. The house remained silent, and his eyes flitted to the staircase that led to the second floor where his room had been transformed into a makeshift hide out for his backup. Everything was silent. Well it couldn’t be too long now.

As if on cue, Roy saw the lights go out in the house across the street, and he took a deep breath. That was the signal. Riza would be ready with her gun, Fuery would be listening in on the microphones that were masquerading as houseplants, and Havoc would be ready to fire in the unlikely case that Hawkeye missed her shot.

It had been one week since Ed had gone missing, it had been 6 days since Al raised the alarm, and it had been 2 days since Ed had first been spotted. Investigations had held an emergency meeting almost immediately following the news, and this plan had been the result of that discussion. Roy tried to relax, and not dwell on the fact that the last time he and Edward had been in his house it had been under far different circumstances.

Edward Elric was 19 and positively radiant, so was it really that much of a surprise that Roy had fallen for him? He and Alphonse had returned to Central after a few years away and both of them had come back looking like the fine young men that they were. Roy had tried so hard to not interfere with Ed’s life, but when he had shown up on Roy’s doorstep and asked to see his private library, how could Roy refuse? Letting Ed into his home had been one thing, getting him out was a feat that Roy had not managed to accomplish. For months Ed appeared to have nothing better to do than disturb the growing layers of dust on his book collection, and Roy would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the company. Then, without warning, Ed had vanished. 

Initially, Roy had feared that he had been the cause of Ed’s disappearance. He had been sitting in this very same armchair when Ed had looked at him, dropped his book, and had fallen into his lap, kissing him hard. It had been the best 3 seconds of Roy’s entire life, but it ended as abruptly as it had begun with Ed leaping to his feet, and flying out of the front door and out of everyone’s lives for over a week.

  
  


The doorbell rang.

Roy pushed himself up, and walked over to his front door, unsurprised at whom he saw in the peephole.

“Edward.” He greeted the young man who stood on his porch.

“General.” Edward saluted, “Lemme in.”

Roy took a step back and closed the door. “Where have you been? Your brother has been worried.”

Ed sneered, “He is such a worry wort. I haven’t been gone that long.”

“You’ve been gone for an entire week Edward.” Roy frowned, “Alphonse had no idea where you went, and we were unable to track you for the longest time.”

“I thought you guys had better stuff to do than stalk me.” Ed said as he threw his coat off, and kicked his boots sloppily against the umbrella stand.

“You haven’t answered the question.” Roy said, “Where have you been?”

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.” Ed said with a wink. A wink and a saucy smile. Roy nearly gaped.

“I’m gonna grab something to eat.” Ed said, as he spun on his heel and headed into the kitchen. Roy watched him, and slowly made his way back to his armchair.

“The hell are ‘Kale Chips’?” Ed called out. Roy heard him opening the bag and could easily imagine the face he made when the gagging sounds began, followed by a string of curses, and some loud spitting into his garbage can.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” The angry voice cried out, and Roy did his best to remain focused on the task at hand. This would not distract him.

  
  


It seemed that Ed had finally found a snack worth eating because he finally entered the living room with a fist full of what Roy suspected was cereal. “Fucking kale chips.” Ed grumbled as he crammed his mouth full of carbs. “Now, I wanna know what the hell you’ve been doing with all the people you arrested for protesting.”

“Do you mean the raciest riots?” Roy asked, “They were threatening the safety of the people in the Ishvalan embassy, and they had alchemists who were found to have explosion arrays on them.”

“Whatever.” Ed rolled his eyes, and stepped closer to Roy. “Where’d ya put em?”

“I put them away to be given a trial. I believe the trials begin on Monday; although I suspect you already know that.”

“FUCKS SAKE!” Ed cursed, “Just tell me where you’re keeping them, you fucking cunt!”

The crude word seemingly echoed through the house, and Roy struggled to keep his poker face.

“Don’t be a bitch, and just tell me!” Ed hissed, turning vicious eyes on him.

“It’s classified.” Roy said, reaching over to turn on the reading lamp, “Why do you want to know? I thought you’d be pleased at how quickly we apprehended the terrorists.”

“They weren’t terrorists!” Ed snorted as if the idea was absurd. “They are hero’s! They are protecting us from--”

The sharp sound of a gun firing broke the silence out on the street, and something heavy crushed the bushes in front of the house. Roy rolled onto the floor, pulling Ed down with him, just as a few more bullets were fired, and a neighbour shouted for help.


	2. Chapter 2

Within minutes the whole street would be swarming with military officials, but Roy didn’t have time to think about that. He had pulled Ed down to the floor before the young man lost consciousness, but long seconds had passed and his hand was limp in Roy’s grasp.

“Ed?” Roy asked, getting to his knees, “Edward!” He reached over to the glass of ice water that had somehow not been knocked off his side table and splashed a generous amount over Ed’s face. Nothing. Not even a single twitch.

“General Mustang, Sir! Are you alright?” Someone said as they barged through the front door, but Roy didn’t care who it was. All that mattered was that Edward was unresponsive after what must have been a very traumatic mental link.

“Get me an ambulance.” Roy barked, and had the satisfaction of hearing standard issued boots running out onto the street. Riza must have seen to ensuring medical staff were within close range because he hadn’t even had enough time to determine if Edward was breathing before an entire medical team crowded into his living room as one paramedic gently ushered him away. His eyes were black and his mouth moved, but Roy couldn’t make out what he was saying. All his attention was on the hoard of bodies that obscured the limp body that had been so full of life just moments before.

Familiar hands pushed him onto a stool, and dropped a warm blanket around his shoulders. Fingers snapped in front of his eyes, but he couldn’t look away. Maria Ross’ voice was saying something about the plan being successful, and how Riza was securing the body of the Puppet Alchemist, but all he could focus on was the defibrillator that one red haired woman had just set up.

“Clear the patient” A voice said, and Roy felt a flood of pure dread as the sound of an electrical shock was heard.

“Resume CPR.” The same voice ordered, and Roy could see someone rushing to follow the order.

Hands held him down, and Roy realized he was trying to move. “No. General, you must let them do their work. You’re not a doctor.” Ross soothed. 

No he wasn’t, was he? He could have become a doctor, he had the brains for it, but instead he had decided to go on a genocidal mission that lead to the creation of a ‘Amestrian Purist’ terrorist group; which led to the Puppet Alchemist to kidnap and use Edward to try and save her murdering friends. He really should have become a doctor.

“Prepare the defibrillator.” Someone said.

“Pause CPR.” Someone else said.

“Clear!” 

Roy shuddered as he caught sight of Ed’s limp body becoming suddenly stiff before the machine was removed and CPR continued.

Ed was young. He would recover. He had to recover, Alphonse needed him! It wasn’t fair. Edward had done nothing in his life other than be good and selfless. Everything he did was out of love, even the human transmutation was done out of a childish devotion to his mother. Why was he the one on the floor dying, when Roy, who had voluntarily burned children in their own homes, still lived? Ed, who had sacrificed so much. Ed, who had the mind of a genius and the body of an Adonis. Ed, who had kissed him like it was the first time he had ever kissed anyone. Edward who was being gently placed on a stretcher.

“Hush.” Ross said, her hand firmly keeping him in place. “They got a heartbeat. They need to get him to a hospital.”

As if reading the doubt on his face, Ross waved over a woman who was snapping off her gloves.

“Patient status?” Ross asked. Roy could have kissed her.

“Alive.” The woman said, “He responded quite well to the chest compressions, and we managed to get him stable enough to move, but it will be awhile before he is out of trouble, and even longer before he regains consciousness. If he is as strong as he looks, he should recover quickly, but nothing is guaranteed.”

“Thank you.” Ross said, and Roy nodded, unable to trust his voice.

The woman gave him a sympathetic look. “Are you family?”

“I’m his---I used to be his Commanding Officer.” Roy managed, his voice sounding like he had eaten gravel for dinner.

“Could you contact his family?” The woman asked, “Close relatives are allowed in the ICU.”

Roy nodded mutely, and watched her leave. Ross didn’t wait, as she headed straight to the phone, and flipped the little brown notebook open to the ‘E’ section and dialed.

It was impossible to hear what Ross was saying to Alphonse over the noise of the retreating ambulance, and his team stampeding around trying to secure evidence, but he did not doubt that Alphonse would be with his brother shortly.

A mug of tea warmed his hands, and he considered it for a moment before taking a careful sip. The sensation of it slowly brought him out of shock, and he finally looked up to see his team standing at attention, waiting for an order.

“Report, Sir.” Riza said, and Roy nodded.

“The target was spotted tailing Edward, and she hid in the shrubs when you opened the door. Havoc and I had her in our sights, but we waited for your signal, and once you had turned on the lamp, I shot the target, while Havoc spotted her accomplice standing nearby, and he took them out. The paramedics had been stationed in your neighbour's garage, and they quickly made their way over once the danger had passed. We have received and dealt with some noise complaints, and I believe you will be hearing from a Mrs. Greta about endangering the children, but I suspect you will have to trouble explaining to her why you chose this location over my own recommendation of using the warehouse district.” There was a slight smugness to her tone that made it quite clear that ‘Mrs. Greta’ was not going to be a pleasant conversation partner.

“Thank you for the report.” Roy said, shrugging off the blanket. “I will tell her exactly what I told you, Puppet would not have allowed herself to be so confidant in an empty warehouse district, as she would be in a seemingly safe and quiet neighbourhood.”

Riza raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“How’s Ed?” Breda asked, “We saw the both of you duck for cover, but we didn’t see what happened.”

Roy sighed, “I am not quite sure what happened, myself. Edward was clearly under the control of Puppet when he came in, but once Puppet was dead and the mind control cut, he simply stopped responding.” He repressed a shudder at the memory of Edward’s limp hand. “I pulled him down, but he didn’t respond.”

“The paramedics restarted his heart.” Ross said, approaching the group slowly. “It appears that Puppet not only controlled his mind, but his body as well.”

“Hell.” Havoc said, “Who the fuck gave her a state certification?”

“It’s so messed up.” Fuery agreed.

Breda nodded, and Roy did his best to quell the panic that was rising with every minute away from Ed.


	3. Chapter 3

“Brother’s fine.” Al said, his voice tinny over the phone line. “I got here an hour ago, and the doctors seem to think that all the stuff they keep injecting him with is going to keep him alive long enough for me to yell at him until the day I die.”

“I appreciate the update Alphonse.” Roy said, his head flat on his desk, and a pile of documents fluttering to the floor. He really was too old to be spending his nights at HQ. “Please let me know if anything changes, no matter the hour.”

“Of course.” Al said, “Thank you for finding him, General. I don’t know that he’d be here if you and your team hadn’t located him so quickly.”

“I am glad you thought of contacting me when you realized something was wrong. It was the best course of action. I suppose you’ll be interested in hearing that the Puppet Alchemist has been eliminated, and her comrades will be facing a trial with a jury that will be half Ishvalan.”

“I’ll make sure to tell brother when he wakes up.” Alphonse said, the smile clear in his tone.


	4. Chapter 4

Dawn came, and Roy managed to escape to his house just long enough to eat something and snatch 2 hours of sleep, before he was back at HQ making sure none of the evidence disappeared into the hands of those who still believed Ishvalans had no business being treated like humans. Alphonse called 2 more time to assure the team that Edward was doing relatively fine, and that they could all come see him once the doctors let him have visitors.

Maria Ross did her part as the head of the intelligence department, and Hawkeye made sure that everything was done correctly, despite the widespread sleep deprivation in the office. Falman and Fuery had escaped in the early afternoon, and Havoc was eyeing the door whenever Hawkeye seemed to be distracted. This was by no means anyone’s ideal Saturday, but there really wasn’t a choice.

Finally, just as the sun was setting, Riza collected the final document into her perfectly ordered binder and slammed the lid shut. The loud sound woke Havoc, who nearly fell out of his chair, and made Breda whisper a quiet prayer of gratitude.

“Are we done here?” Roy asked.

Riza nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

The words had barely left her mouth when Havoc and Breda dashed out the door.

“Ingrates.” Roy muttered, massaging his temples.

“Permission to speak freely?” Hawkeye asked.

“Always, you know that.” Roy smiled. 

Something in the line of her shoulders relaxed, and the severe demeanour faded into exhaustion. “Go home, Roy. Sleep, and go see Ed in the morning, he’ll probably be awake.”

“What makes you think I---” The denial turned to ashes on his lips as Riza gave him a look.

“Do not lie to yourself, and do not lie to me.” She said. “Ed is old enough to make his own mistakes, and you are old enough to know how to avoid them.” She grabbed her coat. “I trust you not take advantage of his youth and inexperience, but I will simply remind you that Alphonse Elric can remove every nerve of your body with a single clap, and I have seen him do much worse with the cadavers down in Lab 1.”

“Medical alchemy?” Roy asked, his heart rate spiking.

“Hmm allegedly.” Riza smiled, “But I am sure it can be used for torture as well. Good Night, I’ll see you on Monday.”

The sharp click of her heels faded down the empty corridor, and it took Roy a few moments to recover himself before following her. 


	5. Chapter 5

A day passed before Roy was allowed in to see Edward. He looked pale, buried in the hospital sheets, and smelling like sponge bath. His hair was a mess, and it looked like Al had given up brushing it if the discarded brushes were anything to go by. Ambassador Mei Chang came by to drop off some clothes for Al, and Roy offered to watch Ed while he went and took a shower.

This whole exchange happened without Edward saying a word.

“How are you feeling?” Roy asked, unnerved by the silence.

“Is she dead?” Ed asked.

“Yes. I thought Al would have told you.” Roy said.

Ed visibly relaxed, “Just making sure. Al worries and I know you wouldn’t lie to make me feel better.”

Roy cringed inwardly. The one time he had tried to spare the Elric’s pain had not ended well, and it had led him to never sugarcoat the truth.

“Do you think Alphonse would lie to you?” He asked.

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Ed shrugged, “I don’t know anything anymore.”

“I doubt that you mean that literally.” Roy said.

Ed laughed an empty joyless laugh, “I can’t trust anything anymore. You try being kidnapped and used against your will, and then you tell me how you feel.”

It took some effort, but Roy managed to hold himself back from interrogating Ed. Alphonse had passed on the basic summery of the events that Ed had recounted, but that didn’t mean that Roy would willingly settle for an inaccurate portal of the events. According to Al, Ed had been walking home after leaving-bolting- from Roy’s house, when he was accosted by a lady needing assistance with her car. The next thing Ed remembers is waking up in the hospital. Apparently, he was aware of time passing, and of some sensations, but not much else. The notes Roy’s team had recovered from Puppet’s lab told of how she could bypass a person’s consciousness without stripping them of their main characteristics when she was controlling them. It was genius in its own way, and certainly explained why Ed had not appeared to be behaving unusually, except for a few slips like his comment about Al, and the unusual harness of his tone while questioning Roy. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ed said, his fists clenching. “I have nothing that could help your case against the terrorists.”

“Alright.” Roy said, “How about you tell me about the quality of the food service here.”

Ed grinned, it was dim by comparison to his usual smile, but it was nonetheless a grin.


	6. Chapter 6

The next couple of days were absolutely crammed with meetings, interrogations, and an unholy amount of paperwork. Sometimes he would look at the clock and realize that it was well past midnight, while at other times he would look and see that it was nearly midnight. Essentially he was functioning on a grand total of 3 hours sleep on most days, and he was beginning to think that he was hallucinating 

Roy frowned as he approached his house. He was positive that he hadn’t left the lights on, electricity was expensive enough, so why was light pouring out of every window? The door was locked, so he silently turned the key and peered into the hallway. Everything seemed to be in order, except for the pair of black boots that lay up against the wall. Ed.

The door clicked shut, and he shrugged out of his coat. He was exhausted, but that really didn’t matter in light of this development. Everything was quiet and Ed was nowhere to be seen. Roy carefully poked his head into the kitchen but saw nothing, and a perusal of his living room showed no signs of Ed. Where was he? The library was empty, as was the pantry, and Roy was just about to check the back porch when a floorboard creaked in the upstairs bathroom. He stared at the ceiling and frowned, in all the time Ed had spent dragging his exquisite hair all over Roy’s house, he had never gone upstairs. Why would he? There was nothing he needed in the two bedrooms, and there was a perfectly serviceable half bath just beside the library. Even on the nights Ed had fallen asleep, he had rejected the spare bedroom in favour of the well-loved sofa. Discarding his jacket, Roy made his way up the stairs making just enough noise to alert Ed to his presence. He fully expected to run into the other man exiting the bathroom, but instead he found the door closed and the distinct sound of splashing coming from inside.

“Edward?” He asked.

There was no response.

“Ed, are you alright?” He asked.

The rhythmic sounds of water lapping gently against the edge of the tub was the only reply.

“Ed?” He asked, tapping the door, anxiety creeping into his tone. 

Still nothing.

“Ed, I’m coming in.” He said, slowly turning the knob to give Ed plenty of time to react, but there was no response.

Gingerly he pushed the door open, only to be greeted by a flash of humidity that would have fogged up his glasses if he had been wearing them. The bathroom was much like he had left it this morning; the counter still had the pile of laundry on it, and the sink held traces of the hair he hadn’t had time to clean after he had hurriedly shaved that morning. However,; he had certainly not left a striking blond man in his tub when he had rushed to HQ all those hours ago.

Edward was half buried in bubbles with only his knees and face sticking out of the steaming water. For a split second, Roy was nearly overcome with panic, but Ed blinked, and the relief flooded through him so fast that he didn’t realize he had ended up kneeling on the side of the tub.

“Edward!” Roy said, reaching out to---well---to do something, anything! The vacant stare that Ed was levelling at the tiled wall in front of him was unsettling, and Roy felt the overwhelming urge to pull Ed out and keep him as far away from anything that could be considered a drowning risk.

Before his hand made contact, Ed blinked, and slowly shifted his gaze to glance at Roy without moving any other part of him.

Roy opened his mouth only to realize that he didn’t know what to say. Riza would be astonished that he had finally come across a situation that left him at a loss for words. Apparently he could sass Homunculi, bullshit his way through a government made up of blood thirsty tyrants, and maintain his composure while being faced by a hoard of the undead, but his mind blanked when faced with a despondent Edward Elric who had broken into his home to take a bubble bath.

“---Can I get you anything?” He managed after a long silence, in which Ed hadn’t so much as breathed.

A shake of the head, so minute that Roy would have missed it is he wasn’t on high alert, was the only response.

“I suppose it would be idiotic to ask if you are alright.” Roy said, his voice somehow not betraying his worry.

Ed didn’t reply.

“Does Al know you’re here?” Roy asked.

Ed’s only answer was a tightening of his lips. Ah. Somewhere in Central, Alphonse Elric would be worrying.

“Okay,” Roy breathed, “I am going to call Alphonse, and get him to come---”

“No.” Ed said, his eyes widening “No, just----no.”

Roy studied him. To say that this was unusual was to understate matters to an almost comedic level. “Alright.” He said, “I will call him to tell him you are safe, and then I will come back and make sure you haven’t drowned yourself.”

Ed didn’t protest, neither did he react, which was possibly the most unnerving thing Roy had ever seen, and he had seen a lot.

Quickly, he backed out of the bathroom, keeping Ed within his sight until he turned the corner. A few quick steps, and he was in his own bedroom, picking up the phone, and getting connected to the Elric’s apartment. It was a considerable luxury to have two phones in his house, but a worthy expense if it spared him from breaking his back while stumbling down the stairs in the dark with his poor eyesight in order to answer his downstairs phone.

“Alphonse?” Roy said the instant the line was picked up.

“Have you seen Ed?” Alphonse asked, panic in his tone, “I turn my back for one minute and--”

“Ed is safe, I found him at my place just a few moments ago.”

The sigh that Alphonse lets out makes the line crackle.

“Listen, I know you are worried about him, so am I, but I think it is best that I spend some time with him to understand why he came here.” Roy said, fiddling with the cord. “I need to get back to him, I will call you if I need you to come, otherwise; I suggest you get some sleep, I have this under control.” That wasn’t exactly true, but he really needed to cut this conversation short, and anything that would convince Alphonse to let him handle it was worth saying.

Alphonse hesitated, but finally agreed on the condition that Roy call him first thing in the morning. He could hear the young man struggling with his urge to refuse and to come here himself, but Roy’s urgency and insistence seemed to convince him. The whole exchange took less than 3 minutes, but that did nothing to settle Roy’s nerves, and he felt the panic rising with every passing second that Ed was out of his sight.

“I will keep you updated.” Roy said, and he barely heard Al’s response before slamming down the receiver and making his way back to the bathroom.

The fog had dissipated, but the water still steamed, and Ed was still immovable in a mountain of bubbles. Roy looked around the small space, before deciding that the best spot for sitting was on the lid of the toilet. He sat on it without a trace of his usual grace, and he looked at Ed, who stared back at him with empty eyes. It was unsettling in the most unbearable way. 

“Sorry.” Ed said, much to Roy’s surprise.

“Don’t be.” He replied automatically.

“We only have a shower.” Ed said, and Roy was left to connect the dots. The Elric’s were renting out a decent apartment in a decent part of town, but neither he nor Al had been very interested in wasting money on rent, so they had gone with a very simple three-bedroom suite. Hawkeye had visited once, and she had said that the third room was piled so high with books that she was worried about the structural integrity of the floor. Of course those two had spent every spare cen on books rather than things like a nicer apartment.

“I see.” Roy said, as if that justified this whole situation.

Ed nodded and dipped his chin into the water until the water covered his mouth and the bubbled threatened to suffocate him. Roy watched him with concern.

“Normally, I would simply leave you to it, but--” He paused for a moment, “but I do not feel that leaving you would be the responsible thing to do.” He exhaled slowly. “Instead, I am going to sit here and keep you company.” He rubbed his temples, he was too tired for all of this. Reaching into the cabinet under the sink, he withdraws a copy of last month’s Alchemy magazine. He usually tried to read an article or two while brushing his teeth (or letting a face mask dry), but the past week had been too hectic for any of that. At least now he would be able to catch up while making sure Ed didn’t off himself.

The first few articles rambled on about some new aspect of botanical alchemy, one of which talked about growing more crops in the Eastern desert, but Roy doubted that the Ishvalans would welcome alchemically enhanced farming any time soon. Another article discussed the benefits of creating jewels using alchemy rather than mining them, but Roy’s attention was caught by movement in the corner of his eye.

The mountain of bubbles had become a hill, and the steaming water had cooled enough that Ed sat up and reached for the knob. Roy watched as lean muscles stretched, and old scars twisted as Ed added more hot water to the tub. The water level had risen to dangerous heights by the time Ed kicked the knob with his automail foot. Ed’s shoulders had hunched, and Roy turned his full attention on him.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah.” Ed said, sinking back under the protective layer of bubbles.

“Do you want to talk about whatever caused you to leave your apartment?” Roy asked, tone carefully neutral.

Ed shook his head.

Roy sighed, “Well, if you are feeling better, then I suppose you would like me to give you some privacy.” He moved to stand up, but suddenly there was a wet hand clutching at the corner of his sleeve. 

Ed looked at him with wide eyes, and the water splashed enough to allow a few drops onto the floor. Roy stared at the dripping hand, and after a moment of hesitation, let himself relax back into his previous position.

The hand slowly withdrew, and Ed sunk deeper into the water.

“Alright.” Roy said, voice hoarse. “I’ll stay.”

Hesitantly, he turned his attention back to the articles, but soon found his mind wandering. Over the past few months he and Ed had spent nearly every weekday in each other’s presence. Once Ed’s consulting had wrapped up for the day, he had tended to gravitate towards his office where he would nap until Roy was ready to go home, and then Ed would proceed to devour his library two or three books at a time. He had always taken special pride in his collection of books, his first purchase had been an unimportant alchemical text, but over the years he had acquired several rare volumes that even Ed had never seen before. Madame Christmas had always complained that she could have retired with all the money he’d spent on books, but never had he been more satisfied with his chosen investments than when Ed stormed in waving a pamphlet in the air and asking where the heck he had found so-and-so’s treatise on biological alchemy. Apparently, Ed had grown accustomed to finding dead ends when exploring references in older books, and Roy was going to tell him about the Armstrong collection some day. He had spent months borrowing pieces from Alex, but most of it had been about stone alchemy, so it had never been relevant to Ed’s search for the philosopher’s stone.

Alphonse had been spending more, and more time with the Xingese ambassador, who had come back with him from Xing, and Ed had been trying to give them more space claiming that his therapist told him to not ‘overcrowd’ his brother.

Roy had been secretly thrilled at the invasion of his home, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to revoke that therapist’s licence. Clearly they didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Pride used Al as a puppet once.” Ed said quietly. Roy’s eyes snapped up. Ed was now buried under a thinner layer of bubbles, but he seemed to have managed to regain some of himself.

“When was this?” Roy asked.

“Back when we caught up with Hohenheim.” Ed said, eyes flicking towards Roy, “Al said it felt violating. I think I get it now.”

“What do you remember?” Roy asked, mentally making a list of every way in which he could have tortured Greer Gregson if Riza hadn’t been such an excellent shot. Bradley had given her the title of State Alchemist, and subsequently the funding to pursue her research. Another one of Father’s sins for which Ed had suffered.

Ed sat up, legs stretching out under the water and allowing him to lean his head back on the edge of the tub. “Not much, which is possibly the worst part.” Ed said, “I remember the feelings, and that is really all I know.” He turned to face Roy, “I mostly just felt fear and anger. A few days ago I felt intense panic, but I don’t know what caused it. For all I know Puppet had used me to murder children and I don’t remember.”

Roy nodded, finding words to be entirely insufficient. What could he possibly say to that? “Well,” he began, “as far as we can tell, Puppet kept you hidden in her basement. I do not think she would have risked bringing you out other than her attempt to use you to get to me.”

“Hmm.” Ed agreed, a hint of something in his eyes. “I guess.”

The toilet was positioned right beside the bathtub, and Roy could see every ripple of water and every tremble of Ed’s shoulders. The water was still hot, so it wasn’t the temperature that made Ed shiver.

“Would you like some tea?” Roy asked, hoping that Ed would say yes.

Ed shook his head. “Nah, can’t get out yet.” He shrugged, “Puppet didn’t let me wash my hair once, and the hospital staff were too busy to show me the showers.”

“I see.” Roy said, “Feel free to use my hair products.” He gestured to them. 

“Too tired.” Ed said, closing his eyes. “Don’t care.”

“So are you just hoping your hair washes itself?” Roy asked.

“Dunno.” Ed said, “It’s been a hell of a week, don’t know anything anymore.”

Roy sighed, and made a show of rolling up his shirt sleeves. There was some water on the floor, but that really didn’t matter too much, these were his military trousers, and he had plenty more of them in his wardrobe. “Well I can’t have you drowning in your sleep.” He said, kneeling beside Ed. “Sit up.”

Ed opened one golden eye and squinted at him for a long moment before slowly sitting up and turning, sitting cross-legged facing the opposite wall.

“Thank you.” Roy said, reaching for the shampoo.

The smell of lavender filled the room, and Roy set about massaging the product into Ed’s tangled hair, clearly Puppet hadn’t cared much about Ed’s hygiene in the days she had held him captive. Letting his fingernails gently scratch Ed’s head, Roy allowed a good lather to build up before working it down to the tips of the golden strands. Ed had begun to relax into his touch, and soon Roy could feel him leaning back into it, adding more pressure to the soothing motion of his fingers.

It was a crime, an unforgivable sin to allow himself to enjoy this, no matter how much Roy wanted to believe that this was happening under different circumstances, but as it was, Ed was hurting, and Roy needed to offer nothing more than the simple comfort of another human’s touch. A deep steadying breath refocused him, and he lost himself in pouring water onto the hair, and watching it cascade down the twisting locks. By the time he reached for the conditioner, Ed was so relaxed he might as well have been asleep. A generous dollop of product turned the hair into silken strands that Roy luxuriated in detangling and arranging. The small container he was using to pour the water held just enough to allow him to run his fingers base to tip before needing to refill it. Water splashed onto his clothes, but he didn’t care. The suds from the hair products joined the diminishing little floating clusters of bubbles, but they weren’t enough to compensate for the privacy screen that the mountain of suds had initially provided. Now, Roy could see Ed’s feet flexing under the water, and the dip of his spine right above his beautiful ass.

Carefully, Roy wrung out the excess water from the thick coil, and looped it gently around Ed’s shoulder. Clearing his throat he offered to get him a towel, and he rose from the floor and walked down the hall to the linen closet where he pulled out the thick, fluffy towel that he reserved for guests. Movement and the unmistakable sound of water being displaced and dripping, made him turn around only to be met with the sight of Edward standing in the tub, water up to his calves, and droplets of water running down his back, occasionally being diverted by raised scar tissue, but otherwise making their escape over the curve of muscular thighs all the way down to the cooling water at his feet.

Slowly, like one of those slow-motion scenes from the handful of films Vanessa had insisted he watch, Ed turned around, back and shoulders straight, raising his arms to squeeze the excess water from his hair. His eyes met Roy’s, and they were no longer the dead, vacant eyes of someone lost in their trauma, but rather they glowed like embers. Roy schooled his features into something like neutrality, while forcibly reminding himself that embers could be life-giving, but also life-threatening.

Holding the towel up like a shield, Roy walked back into the bathroom while Ed stepped out, onto the mat and dripped water onto the soft cotton for a few seconds before deliberately turning and bending at the waist to pull the plug.

Roy’s mind short-circuited for longer than he’d like to admit. The hot water had left Ed’s skin a tantalizing pink colour, and his balls hung heavy behind a plump cock. Ed slowly stood up and with a coy look over his shoulder said “I found your magazines.”

It took a solid second for the words to register, but then they did and Roy felt a flush reach his ears. “Oh.”

Ed turned, looking him up and down, “I dropped my bookmark, and it landed in the box with the home decorating magazines in it, but it slipped down the side and to reach it I had to take half of the magazines out. Imagine my surprise when it turns out most of them were from Queer, and every single one you had kept seemed to be of fit blond men.”

“Ah.” Roy said, looking sharply away.

“Yup.” Ed said, “I figured either you were trying to tell me something, or you were trying to hide something. I figure that if you were trying to tell me something you’d have put them in a box titled ‘top secret’ in which case I would have found them, rather than in a box I wouldn’t touch unless I absolutely had to.”

“I-” Roy said, “I didn’t intend for you to find those. I usually keep them elsewhere, but I had painters in last month and I moved them into the library. I simply forgot they were there.” It was the truth.

“Hmm.” Ed said, reaching for the towel. Roy felt ready to relax, but instead of drying himself off, Ed wrapped it around his hair. Roy could hear his heart pounding in his head.

“Edward, I--”

“Your shirt is wet.” Ed said, stepping towards him. “Maybe we should take it off.”

Roy watched the hands come up towards him, but was too slow to stop them before they landed on his chest, instantly his hands flew up to cover Ed’s, and with the most honest expression he could muster he said, “Edward, I will not lie to you and pretend that this isn’t something I want, have wanted for weeks, but we can’t, not tonight. Not like this.” He held Ed’s hands firmly enough to convey his sincerity. “It has been an absolute hell of a week, and you are not alright.” Ed opened his mouth to protest, but Roy wasn’t a politician for nothing, “No. I do not want you to use me as a distraction from your pain, I want you to want me for the sake of it, not to divert your attention from the events of the past week.” He lifted the hand to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss to the knuckles.

Ed looked like he wanted to jerk away, and run off to someplace where no one would ever find him, but then a shiver worked its way down his body, and Roy let go of his hands in favour of wrapping his arms tightly around Ed. “Its alright.” He murmured into Ed’s ear. “It’s alright, I don’t expect anything, I am not rejecting you, I just want to be able to do this properly.”

Ed laughed, it sounded a little hysterical, so Roy reached out with one hand to grab his bathrobe from the hook on the wall, and managed to slip it onto Ed without letting him go.

“I don’t want to be alone.” Ed said, his voice muffled by the way his mouth was pressed into Roy’s shoulder. 

“That is fine.” Roy said, patting his back. “Would you like to sleep in my bed?” He paused before adding, “We will just sleep, and in the morning we can go to the waffle house around the corner for breakfast.”

Ed perked up a little at the idea, but he didn’t move, leaving Roy with the rather complicated task of leading them both down the hallway and into his bedroom without tripping. His hand reached out and swatted the switch, before he kicked the door closed and guided Ed down onto the bed before turning on the bedside lamp which cast a warm glow over both of them.

There was a look of apprehension in Ed’s eyes that made Roy hesitate before removing his soaked shirt. Edward may have just come onto him, but he wasn’t thinking straight, and there was the strong possibility that he didn’t want Roy, he just wanted human contact, and if that meant he had to endure sex so that he didn’t have to sleep alone...Roy stepped back and pulled out a long-unused pair of pyjamas from a drawer. He felt Ed watching him as he stripped out of his remain uniform and pulled on the worn set of pyjamas. Normally he slept nude, he felt quite strongly that undressing only to redress was an entirely useless process, and had instead, purchased a very nice house coat that he kept close by just in case Hawkeye decided to come over for a midnight meeting. Tonight, however, was different. Edward needed the assurance that Roy was not going to molest him, and Roy needed the barrier in case Ed was indeed a cuddler. 

With the pants and shirt pulled on, Roy watched as Ed messily braided his hair while the towel and bathrobe lay discarded on the floor. The light softened Ed’s face and shone off his perfectly toned legs, and the gleaming automail.

“Would you like a set of pyjamas?” Roy asked, reaching in to the drawer ready to locate something Ed could wear. 

“Nah.” Ed said, rolling under the covers. “It’s fine.”

It took a moment for Roy to calm himself, but he managed to slide in beside Ed, and flip off the light. Part of him was itching to go turn off all the other lights Ed had turned on, but another part of him dismissed the idea, deciding that the electricity bill would be worth it.

Ed squirmed closer until he was practically on top of him, and Roy had the absolute pleasure of feeling the entire length of Ed’s body wrap tightly around him, like he was some sort of anchoring point, something that Ed knew was real, and that made him feel safe. The overwhelming surge of protectiveness made Roy hug Ed closer, and Ed let out another one of those borderline hysterical laughs before burying his head in Roy’s neck and slowly being lulled to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 week later- Ed is suddenly struck with the remembered taste of a Kale chip, and Roy never hears the end of it.
> 
> Ed will be alright eventually, but it has only been 4 days since he collapsed so of course he isn't in the best headspace, and that is why Roy has his work cut out for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I do this for free. I live solely on comments. Feed me please.


End file.
